Principal Solutions Architect

You know a great technical sale is about more than delivering a polished demo. The real work is understanding what a customer is trying to accomplish, figuring out whether Expel can actually solve it, and making sure what we promise during the sales process is exactly what our teams are prepared to deliver.

As a Principal Solutions Architect at Expel, you'll own the technical side of some of our most complex Enterprise opportunities. You'll lead technical discovery, demonstrate Expel's service, design and drive Proofs of Value (POVs), work through technical objections, and create the bridge between Sales and Delivery so customers aren't starting over once the deal is signed.

You'll need enough technical depth to comfortably navigate conversations across security operations, incident response, SIEM, endpoint, network, and cloud environments. But being the smartest technical person in the room isn't enough. We're looking for someone who can listen, ask great questions, tell a compelling technical story, challenge assumptions when necessary, and build trust with everyone from a SOC analyst to a CISO.

This is a Principal-level individual contributor role. You'll be expected to independently navigate our hardest opportunities, influence people who don't report to you, hold teams accountable when necessary, and help make the broader Solutions Architecture organization better along the way.

Sound like your kind of challenge? We'd like to hear from you.

What Expel can do for you

• Put you at the center of complex Enterprise security opportunities where your technical judgment can directly influence both the sale and the long-term customer relationship.
• Give you ownership across the technical sales lifecycle, from discovery and demos through POVs, technical objections, escalations, and the transition into service delivery.
• Expose you to a wide range of Enterprise security environments across SIEM, endpoint, network, cloud, identity, security operations, and detection and response.
• Connect you with experienced Account Executives, Sales leaders, SOC analysts, Detection & Response, Product, Engineering, Customer Success, and Service Delivery teams.
• Give you the autonomy to solve difficult customer problems creatively while maintaining the integrity to be clear about what Expel can and cannot do.
• Give you the opportunity to influence how we run POVs, approach Enterprise opportunities, transition customers into delivery, and improve the overall Solutions Architecture motion.
• Let you remain deeply connected to customers and technical work while operating with Principal-level visibility and influence across the business.

What you can do for Expel

• Own the technical strategy for complex Enterprise opportunities from initial discovery through POV, onboarding, and the customer's first 30 days.
• Lead POVs end to end by defining meaningful success criteria, building the technical delivery plan, coordinating internal teams, troubleshooting issues, and keeping execution on track.
• Deeply understand the challenges bringing a prospect to Expel and clearly map those needs to what our service can and cannot solve.
• Deliver technical service demonstrations and tell a compelling story about how Expel creates security value, adapting your approach based on whether you're speaking with practitioners, executives, or somewhere in between.
• Act as a trusted technical advisor who can ask difficult questions, challenge assumptions, navigate technical objections, and tell a prospect or salesperson "no" when that's the right answer.
• Partner closely with Account Executives and regional Sales leadership on opportunity strategy, technical discovery, competitive positioning, RFPs/RFIs, and complex customer requirements.
• Prepare Delivery teams with the technical context, expectations, risks, environment details, and opportunities necessary for a smooth transition from pre-sales into service delivery.
• Own technical escalations that arise during POVs or the first 30 days of service, pulling together the right people and staying accountable until the issue reaches resolution.
• Coordinate across Sales, Product, Engineering, SOC, Detection & Response, Customer Success, and Delivery, influencing and holding stakeholders accountable even when they don't report to you.
• Maintain strong working knowledge across SIEM, endpoint/EDR, network, cloud, security operations, incident response, attacker behavior, and detection and response.
• Identify opportunities to improve our POV methodology, technical content, processes, customer handoffs, and internal enablement, then work across teams to actually implement those improvements.
• Raise the technical and consultative bar for the broader Solutions Architecture team by sharing what you learn and helping others navigate difficult customer and technical situations.

What you should bring with you

• 8+ years of relevant experience across Solutions Architecture, Sales Engineering, technical security selling, security consulting, security operations, incident response, or similar customer-facing security roles.
• A track record of operating at a senior or principal level, regardless of your current title. You can independently own complex Enterprise opportunities, influence stakeholders without formal authority, and become the technical person others trust when the answer isn't obvious.
• Meaningful experience leading complex Enterprise POVs, including technical discovery, defining success criteria, coordinating execution, managing objections, troubleshooting issues, and connecting technical outcomes back to customer goals.
• Strong security depth with the ability to confidently discuss security operations, incident response, attacker behavior, network architecture, cloud environments, SIEM, endpoint/EDR, and detection and response.
• The ability to understand how security technologies work together in real customer environments and identify where technology alone doesn't solve the underlying problem.
• Strong storytelling skills. You can take something technically complicated and make it understandable, relevant, and compelling for a SOC analyst, security engineer, Account Executive, or CISO.
• Trusted-advisor instincts. You look beyond what a customer initially asks for, uncover what they're actually trying to accomplish, and aren't afraid to respectfully challenge a proposed approach.
• Strong project and stakeholder management skills with experience coordinating complex work and holding others accountable without relying on formal authority.
• High EQ and the ability to navigate disagreement, conflicting priorities, and difficult customer conversations without losing trust.
• Genuine curiosity. You ask thoughtful questions, dig beyond surface-level answers, and continuously invest in understanding security, technology, customers, and the business.
• Coachability and a low-ego approach to feedback. You don't need to know everything, but you should want to keep getting better.
• A track record of improving processes, technical strategy, enablement, customer deliverables, or team practices beyond your own individual opportunities.

Bonus points for...

• Hands-on experience working in a SOC, incident response, threat hunting, detection engineering, or another security operations environment.
• Experience selling or delivering MDR, MSSP, SIEM, EDR/XDR, cloud security, or other security operations solutions.
• Experience supporting large Enterprise customers with complex environments, long sales cycles, and multiple technical and executive stakeholders.
• Experience working directly with Delivery or Customer Success after the sale rather than ending your involvement when the contract is signed.
• Experience responding to complex Enterprise RFPs and RFIs.
• Experience improving POV methodology, technical enablement, reusable content, or processes for a broader Solutions Architecture or Sales Engineering organization.
• A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related discipline.

Additional notes

This role is remote within the United States. While our office is located in Herndon, Virginia, we're open to candidates across the U.S. who can effectively support the customers, Account Executives, and regional stakeholders aligned to their territory.

Travel is expected to be up to 10-20% and may include customer meetings, executive briefings, conferences, roadshows, and visits to Expel HQ.

The targeted base salary range for this role is $186,000 to $195,000 USD, with a 75/25 pay mix resulting in targeted on-track earnings (OTE) of $248,000 to $260,000 USD, plus equity.

We believe in paying transparently and equitably. Your compensation will ultimately be based on factors such as your experience, skills, team equity, and market data. You'll also be eligible for unlimited PTO, which we model and encourage, work location flexibility, up to 24 weeks of parental leave, and really excellent health benefits.

We're only hiring those authorized to work in the United States. We do not currently sponsor immigration visas.

We're an Equal Opportunity Employer: You'll receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or on the basis of disability.

We'll ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please let us know if you need accommodation of any kind.

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